HSK Guide

shēngto be born; to grow; to give birth to; life; raw, uncooked; unfamiliar, strange

shēng (first tone, high and level)

to be born; to grow; to give birth to; life; raw, uncooked; unfamiliar, strange

5 画部首 词频 #37

拼音

  • shēng (first tone, high and level)

to be born; to grow; to give birth to; life; raw, uncooked; unfamiliar, strange

字形拆解

  • meaning partno entry yetA young shoot with its first leaves.
  • meaning partno entry yetThe ground it is pushing through. The modern five strokes have run the two together; the character is a radical in its own right.

Mnemonic

A shoot breaking out of the ground: the earth 土 at the foot, the sprout 屮 rising through it, the two run together into five strokes. Everything the word does grows from that picture — 生日 the day of being born, 生活 the living of a life, 学生 the one growing into learning. What has not yet been worked on is also 生: 生词 a word you have never met, 生肉 uncooked meat.

A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.